Yu Jong-hyang
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 18 August 2009 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | North Korea | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Forward | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Naegohyang Sports Club | ||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024 | North Korea U15 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2025– | North Korea U17 | 13 | (23) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| ‡ National team caps and goals as of 17 May 2026 | |||||||||||||||||
Yu Jong-hyang (Korean: 유정향; born 18 August 2009) is a North Korean footballer who plays as a forward for Naegohyang Sports Club. She won both the Golden Ball and the Golden Boot at the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup after finishing as the tournament's top scorer with eight goals.
Early life
Yu Jong-hyang was born in North Korea on 18 August 2009.[2] Her first documented international appearance came at the 2024 EAFF U-15 Women's Championship in Dalian, China, where she scored twice in a 4–0 victory over Chinese Taipei.[3]
International career
North Korea U17
Yu was promoted to the under-17 side for the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Morocco.
On 24 October 2025, she scored twice in a 5–0 group-stage win over the Netherlands.[4] Four days later, on 28 October, she added two goals in a 6–1 round-of-16 victory over Morocco.[5] She scored both goals in North Korea's semi-final win over Brazil on 5 November.[6] Yu started in the final against the Netherlands on 8 November, which ended in a 3–0 win for North Korea, as the team secured its fourth under-17 world title.[7]
Yu's eight goals earned her the Golden Boot, while coaches and media voted her the tournament's best player, awarding her the Golden Ball.[8][9]
She was later included in the squad for the 2026 AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup, scoring five goals in a group-stage match against Chinese Taipei.
Honours
North Korea U17
Individual
References
- ↑ "2026 AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup Squad Lists" (PDF). Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
- ↑ "Jong Hyang Yu". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ↑ "EAFF U15 Women's Championship 2024". East Asian Football Federation. 23 August 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ↑ "Netherlands 0–5 North Korea (24 Oct, 2025) Final Score". ESPN. 24 October 2025. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ↑ "North Korea 6–1 Morocco (28 Oct, 2025) Final Score". ESPN. 28 October 2025. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ↑ "Mundial Sub-17 Feminino: Brasil luta, mas perde para Coreia do Norte". Agência Brasil. 5 November 2025. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ↑ "North Korea 3–0 Netherlands (8 Nov, 2025) Final Score". ESPN. 8 November 2025. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ↑ "North Korea defeats Netherlands to win Under-17 Women's World Cup". JoongAng Ilbo. 9 November 2025. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ↑ "DPRK Team Wins 2025 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup". Naenara. Foreign Languages Publishing House. 11 November 2025. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ↑ "Korea DPR down Dutch to claim another crown". FIFA.com. FIFA. 8 November 2025. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
- 1 2 "The Morocco 2025 award winners". FIFA.com. FIFA. 8 November 2025. Retrieved 21 November 2025.